Will Gudgeon.

I have been following Will’s adventures since I myself became interested in pinhole photography. It was his sheer inventiveness that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of pinhole. When I started the Twitter handle to match this blog I obsessed over seeing all the behind-the-scenes posts he would upload (check his Twitter out here).

From Paddleboarding and Easter Eggs to Solargraphy, his work goes to show that through the simplicity of pinhole - anything is possible!

He was recently gracious enough to take the time to answer a few questions I had for him…

Will, what do you do?

Around being a Husband, Dad to three kids and painting cars 40+ hours a week, I find what time I can to get out with my cameras.

I’ve been photographing with digital for years (mostly Landscapes) without a care for film, until I had a load of computer problems in 2014. Not being able to do anything with my digital files, I dug out a pinhole kit I got for Christmas a few years earlier and headed out on August 2nd 2014 to take my first pinhole. I got home, developed the paper and was hooked - not just on pinhole, but film.

Why stick with pinhole?

I love the simplicity of pinhole cameras, the fact you can make a pinhole camera out of most things is something that really appealed to me.

When I started with pinhole I made a lot of cameras with beer cans, old VHS cases and even managed a pinhole camera with a chocolate Easter egg.

While loving the homemade cameras I also brought a Zero Image 4x5 and ONDU multiformat pinhole camera.

I also love doing Solargraphy projects! I’ve set up many cameras over the last few years, also completing a couple of year long exposures capturing 2016 in one exposure.

Has your practice change over time? If so, how?

I started out only using darkroom paper, which worked great for most things, but have since started exploring different films and, apart from sticking to the standard landscape stuff I had always done with my photography, starting to push it more into my daily life..

Is there a specific piece you’re especially proud of? And why?

There are several pieces I’m proud of for many different reasons, the Solargraphy work particularly because of the time you spend waiting, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year to see your work, if the camera even survives that is.

But apart from that, I think it’s my Easter project with the image of The Crucifix with an Easter egg. It was a challenging project, the fact it even worked surprised me. I had the egg held together with elastic bands, hoping it wouldn’t soften too much that they would crush it - the pinhole was held in place with tape and elastic bands! I drove to the other side of town to get the picture, rushed back to get it developed as soon as possible, and it came out just how I had hoped.

From what, or who, do you draw the most inspiration?

When I started out I spent many hours looking through Justin Quinnell’s work, and still find his work very inspirational, but I find a lot of inspiration from many photographers. Being able to browse through social medias such as Facebook, 500px and Flickr, nowadays you can find many inspiring images and projects that people are doing.

What’s your dream project?

I don’t really have one particular project. Just to get out more, photograph more, travel more, find different ways to photograph things.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

I’ve not ever really been given advice for photography, but something I’ve learnt is to do what you enjoy. It’s so easy to go out and photograph what gets the most “likes” to follow what everyone else is doing, becoming obsessed with sharpness, composition, pixels, gear, earning money from your work…

Just get out and photograph what you love, in the way you enjoy the most.

As long as you love what you are doing, that’s all that matters.

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Some of Will’s imagery is below. Once you’re done here, head over to Will’s website via this link.